Regarding the article about low math scores in Federal Way: I am sure there is no one easy answer, but having raised three kids in the Federal Way School District, I believe I can offer some insight as to the reason why.

One of my daughters graduated from Todd Beamer High School. She was in the math, science and health academy. Her math teacher’s English was so bad that the kids in the class could not understand him at all. He talked with such a thick accent, and he talked so fast that it made it nearly impossible for the kids to learn. I now have a son who is in the same academy at the same school. The teacher that he has this year is actually pretty good. But last year, his teacher was so bad at teaching algebra, that I had to spend about $2,000 on a tutor to make sure he wouldn’t fall behind and to make sure he could pass the WASL.

There were also several times when my kids were in elementary school, that there were actually mistakes in the math books. It was astounding to me that there could be mistakes in elementary math books. How does this happen? Who chooses these books? When I pointed it out to the teachers, they acknowleged the mistakes, but were helpless to do anything about it. Really? Like I said, I don’t think the low math scores are a result of one problem, but a combination of problems. I think the Federal Way School District could get more answers if they actually asked the students and the parents.

Julie Anderson, Federal Way